PROCEEDINGS 



-OF- 



New Englan 



J il LJ 



Ji 



w 



w 



.\ \ 



OF ST. LOUIS, 



-AT ITS- 



Meeting, December 22d, 1885. 



PROCEEDINGS 



-OF- 




m * Eng 




I*tai6 




AT ITS 



Meeting, Decemkr 22d, 1885. 



The meeting was called to order in the diinno--rooin of 
of the Lindell Hotel, at eight o'clock P. M. 

The President, H. M. Pollard, called upon Rev. M. W. 
Willis, Ph. D., to invoke the Divine Blessing, which he did 
in the following words: 

"Infinite Father, we thank Thee for this our gathering 
here — sons and daughteis of New England. For all the 
brave endurance, and for all the cherished memories of a 
Godly ancestr3^ we thank Thee. 

We thank Thee, for their stout hearts and steadfast work, 
in laying broad and deep, the foundations of a mighty peo- 
ple. 

For all those noble qualities and beautiful lives, which 
they illustrated upon a bleak and inhospitable coast — in the 
midst of winter, want and the wilderness, we thank Thee. 
For all the tender memories of dear homes, far away among 



the hills Mild vnlley.s of our own N(?w EngLmd, we thank 
Thee. 

Tliough now far from the liaiints and homes of child- 
hood's years, we thank Tiiee, for this ixlad hour of re-union 
and ha])pv greeting. 

God grant that ail tiie sweet intMnories that linirer and 
cluster now around us, calling up touching recollections and 
loving syinpathies, tiiat start freshly from the grave of 
years, and tiood this liour, shall make New England homes 
doubly dear to New England hearts. Amen." 

After whicii the foliowin;:; hill of fare was discussed: 



JVL E INT XT 

Oi/ liters. 

JSforKHilh OH Shell. 
(Jdtrij. Olives. 

R'iodi' Island Clam Broth. 

Ihi'ihil Kt inichcc liircr >S<iI//h>ii, J^<J(J Sauce. 

IIiill<utd(iisc I'lii'diii's. 

Bakid Porli and Beans. 

Biistnit. Ilroii'ii llrcinl. 

l\'nil( rldin of Hvcf, ndlh M iish rooms. 
Boas/ 7'iirhi //, ( ' ra idx rrif Sauce. 

Ilroirucd I'o/d/acs. ISpiiiadi. 

Mvdj'ord Ban/ Bnn,cli. 
yetr Ha ni pslii re Pari rhlij(\ Roasted. 

Li'ltiirc. Water C/v.s.s. 

Baked /nd/'an BaddiiKj. X( n- England Style . 

Mince, J'ic Pumpkin Pie. 

Asfi(n-tc(l C'li/ii's. Charhittc Pnssc. 

]^ani/la Ic( Cream. 

Fruits. Boston Crackers and Cheese. XiUs. 

Vtrmont Ciller. Coffee. 



8 

During wliich time Si^iering's orchestni rendered vai-ious 
pieces of music. Which was followed by a song, "Home 
Again," byDi-. G. A. Bowman. Whereupon the President 
greeted the members and their ladies as follows: 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

It is with feelings of pride that I arise to bid you wel- 
come to our New Eno-Iand board. 

Only a month ago, a few gentlemen suggested that it 
would be mete and proper to organize a New England So- 
ciety in our city. The suggestion was alone convincino-, 
and with the characteristic of our progenitors, we at once 
set to work, and have organized a band of two hundred na- 
tives of New England, and descendants of Miles Standish, 
now residing in St. Louis. We also tind we have here more 
than one hundred others eligible, but who, from a fear of 
our succotash or chowder, or because of the water in their 
Puritan l)lood, or the lack of somethino; strono-er at this 
board, have not yet joined hands with us. Another year, 
with more time and a larger experience, we hope to have 
enrolled on our books the name of every native of the six- 
New P^ngland States, now residing in our city. 

Let us now join in commemorating the day our fore- 
fathers and mothers set foot to stay on that "l)leak New 
England Shore." 

The first toast — 

"NEW ENGLAND" 

was responded to by .ludge C. S. Hayden, who said : 

I feel highly comi)limented, Mr. Chairman, and ladies 
and gentleman, at being called on to respond to the toast, 
"New England;" but I do not know but what the Commit- 
tee would have done better to have selected some othei- per- 
son to re])ly to so representative a sentiment. Of the New 
Englanders who settle in the west, there is a class who be- 



como wcstiM'iiizccI and a class who do not become wostei'Dized. 
Now I helonti' to the class who become westernized and am, 
ix'rhaps, an extreme example of that class lam afraid you 
will think so before I have uone far. I have become so 
much westernized that I was (|iiite disappointed when I re- 
ceivcMl the circuhiroi the committee about this dinner. That 
circular stales that " for reasons satisfactory to all," 
the committe(> determined not to furnish wines for tliis din- 
ner. "For reasons satisfactory to all," — that is, of course 
to all New Knji'landei's, since no other persons than New 
Knirlanders were t-onccriicd. The committee assumed, as 
a matter of course ami without ar<i;ument, that the i-easons 
were satistactoi'V to all. I coidd not d()id)t tin; word of the 
cominittee and it at once struck me what a deii'enerate New 
Kno'lander I was. and how unlit to I'cplv to the repr(!sentative 
toast, " New Kn<j;land."" Fori had always — it is in meta- 
phorical sackcloth and ashes that 1 confess it — associated a 
[)ul)lic dinner, and e>j)eeially an at"ler dinner speech, with a 
bottle of champajxne. A lonu' course of vicious experieiu'C 
had le(l me to rei^ard cham|)ae:iu' as an al)lative of accompa- 
uimeut which could not iirammat ically or lo<i"ically be sep- 
arate(| from an after dinner speecii that w;is o-ood for ai'y- 
tliino". ()ther six'eches mii-iit be made with oi' without 
Tuiuids. IJut an aftei' dimiei' speech, e\('n if it is not of 
ambi'i' briu'htness, even if does not spai'kU' and bead and 
hid)ble like that imperial wine, ouu'hl at least to have some- 
thin<i" amusiii<j; about it. And champaune is a great factor, 
if not in eiiablinu" speakers to be amusing, at least in prcvent- 
insr them fr.)m beiuii' <lr\'. 

Then it struck me. degenerate New Fnglandei' that I am. 
that the committee had Ixh'ii a little iiasty with their "for 
reasons that will be satisfactory to all." How did the}' 
know that the reasons would be satisfactory to the si)eak- 
ers, who, it appears to nu', are persons y(M'y closely con- 
cerned V ( ilancii)<:- down the list of <:-entlemen who are 



5 

here to speak to-uight, I see that sotue of theui are per- 
sons of very delicate constitutions, others of very bashful 
dispositions, and I have no doubt that all of them, more es- 
pecially the reverend gentlemen who are to come after me, 
would be o;lfid to have a little wine, not for the stomach's 
sake, but to enable them to underoo the ordeal of makino; 
after dinner speeches. That ordeal has daunted other men 
of genius besides themselves. You remember liow troubled 
Thackeray and Hawthorne used to be on such occasions. 
And I think that weak human nature, under such trying 
circumstances, ought to hnve a little artificial support. But 
the Committee has taken it for o;rjuited with somethin"; of, 
I will ni)t say, New England intolerance — that would be a 
harsh word, warmly as 1 feel on this subject — but of New 
England impatience of opposition, that there is nothing to 
be said on the other side of the question. It strikes me that 
I would like to have suggested a compromise, at least, and 
have given a bottle of champagne to each of the speakers. 
Surely this would have been a ha[)py arrangement. I think 
it would have been, to use the Committee's words, with a 
slight addition, "satisfactory to all" the speakers. I know 
it would have been — provided the bottle had been a quart 
bottle — perfectly satisfactory to me. It would have given 
an additional relish to my wine to see this Committee re- 
main "dry." But after all, I consoled myself with reflect- 
ing that if the Committee did not furnish the cause, they 
coidd not expect to have the effect. They could not expect 
to have brilliant speeches when they did not give the speakers 
anything to make their speeches brilliant with. As the 
su[)ernumerary actor at the theatre, when reproved by the 
star for not throwing more force into his recitation, replied 
that he could not afford to work up terrific bursts of emotion 
on five dollars a week, so the speakers to-night cannot be 
expected to be as witty as if my plan had been ado[)ted and 
each of us had a bottle of champagne at his elbow. These 



remarks, gentloinon who arc to follow me, will put yon ;ill 
at you (ja^^e. As il i>;, uotliiii'j; l)rilliaiit is exj)eetc(l of you; 
and I hope, for tliis Committee's sake, tiiat you will not dis- 
a]:)p()int expectations. You can be as tiresome as you [)lease. 
For my part, I will say with Dooherry, that were I as tedi- 
ous as a king;, I eoidd Hud it in my heart to bestow all my 
tediousne.ss — on this Committee. F^vidently tlie only sort 
of dryness that they object to is dry chamj)a<2;ne. 

These reflections, melancholy in any one, but doubly sad 
to be contemplated in a New Enii'lander, 1 atl ribute jjartly 
to in\' Ix'iuir a iiati\e of Pioston — a place \i>u know whcn'e 
they elect and re-eU^ct Irish-born, lvom;in Catholic, Demo- 
cratic Mayors — mikI partly, as 1 said before, to my liavin<i; 
bi'conu? very much westernized. But wjcit I am anxiou^ to 
e.\l)laiii IS that these de])raved tastes are jx'culiar to the inli- 
vidual and do not belongto New Englanders in general, nor 
to the typical New Englander. To ascertain the true tastes 
of New England. I would not go to her ' rocky arms,' but 
to her ' rural heart.' 1 would not take the ba I Bostonian; 
I would select the virtuous Vermonter. Next to being good 
our.^elves, it is desirable to be able to compare our own 
wickedness with the shining light of otlun's. in contrast to 
my familiarity with champagne, 1 desire to place the bliss- 
ful igiKuanee of (uie of the oiiicers of this association. If 
he were ))re>enl I would not mention this incident : for 1 
dislike to j)raise a man to his face. IJut happily this \ir- 
tuous \'ermonter is absent, and will not hear this relation of 
a perhaps almost forgottt-n incidi'iit of his early life, and 
blu-h to liiid it fame. 

\\'hen dudjje Adams lirst left his native' villau'c in the re- 
iiiote recesses of \'ermont, he had never seen a city, nor in- 
deed a laige town — for U)u know there are no cities or large 
towns, or indeed la r<2:e thiiiffs ofau\ kind, in W-rmont — and 
thus with the greatest exi)ectations, he visited Boston. After 
seeing some of the sights of the city, he went into Parker's 



for diuiK'r — not Parker's of lo-d-i}', that fine hotel, beloved 
of [)()liticdMn8 and Cambridge students, which stands on 
classic "round and has now covi'red the site of Burnhani's 
AntiiiLU^ Book store, where, of an afternoon, Rufus Choate 
u>ed to ascend to the third and fourth stories and bury him- 
self m hooks — not tJiat Parker's hut the old Parker's of 
Court Square, no lonjrer existing, for the site is covered by 
Young's hotel, but which will exist as long as Americans do, 
as Hawtiiorne has made it live by one of his inimitable des- 
criptions. It was into this Parker's that Judge Adams, 
tlien a iresii, green mjuitaiii iioy, went tt) order dinner 
with a companion. Do not mistake me; I was not thi't com- 
panion. 1 was mucn younger and was, indeed, at that i)e- 
riod imbibing, at far different fountains, a duid much more 
nnocent than cham|)ao:;ne. A.-, the waiter was jjoino- avvav 
-with the order, fludire Adams called, " And, waiter, bring 
us a bottle of cnampagne ! " "Cha'upagne sir, yessir, 
yessir! Dry sir, dryy" flu Ige Adams indignantly ex- 
claimed, "Never you mind whether we are dry or not, 
\ on iust <i"o and get tiiat chami)a<2;ne !" 

I think Mr. Chairm:in, that the New Enghmd Society of 
St. Louis m.iy be m ide to sub-erve a \\i\-\ g(),)d [xirpose. 
If there were nothini*; beyond, it is very pleasant to meet, 
to revive old recollections and to talk ab^ut ihe past, on 
this anniversary. I d > not sup[),)se that anyone thinks that 
these <2:atlK'rinj:s should he made occasions for propan^atino" 
any ideas peculiar to New England or New Englanders. I 
do not see way there should be New England ideas any 
more than there should Ibe Middle State ideas, or Pacific 
Slo})e ideas, or New Jersey ideas or Oregon ideas. We can 
best be true to New England, best keep our own birth- 
right and do honor to our birthplace, by cultivating those 
ideas which are not local or peculiar but which are the 
ideas of progressive men, wherever such men exi^^t. The 
obligation which New Englanders should recognize as in- 



8 

CLinibent on them, in whatever part of the United States they 
are, is to be al)i-east of the foremost thought of the time. This 
anniversarv sujiijests many hijjli and noble lessons; bull 
know of none hifjlier and nobiei- that Foi-efath(>r"s day 
teaches than this, — the suoorbination of all pecuniary, of 
all material interests to (fi'o-.xt truths. Whatever were the 
faults of the Pilurim Fathers, and tijey had not a few, they 
were men who subordinated the material to the ideal. They 
gave up not only all the eomforts of existence i)ut all those 
conventional modes of life to which men in society are most 
attached, in defence of mere ideas. When, in these days, 
our material interests clash, as they so oft(>n do, with wliat 
in our hearts we know to be right, we shall not be worthy 
descendants of th(! Pilgrim Fathers unless we also subordin- 
ate conviuiience to truth. If, in politics, the bloody shirt 
is buried and ouuht to be buried, let not \ew Eiifjlanders 
be found trying to resurrect it. If protective tariffs are at 
war with the interests of the great mass of the people and 
with the tirst j)rincij)les of eccuioniic science.! do not here say 
the\- arc, bnt it" they are. let not New Englanders be found 
exalting their ])rivate })rotit aliove the general good. If it 
is tht> besetting sin of Americans that their life is sunk in 
materialism: that mind and heart and soul are absorbed in 
moncN' iiettinii", let not New Kn<2"landers be found foremost 
of all in their worshi|) of "the least erected spirit that f(dl 
from IIea\cn."" It should be their part, ratlun', it" they 
would show that intellect ual >u|)eriority which is sometimes 
atlril)uted to them and which perhajjs, they are a little in 
the habit of attributing; to themselves, to be before and not 
i)chind other Anu'ricans in correctinii" the national failino;s. 
Wherever there are weak places in the l)ody social and 
politic of our countiy : wherever well wishei's in other lands 
turning to us are able "to put their fingers on the spot, and 
say, 'Thou ailest here, and here,' "' it is in being foremost to 
reco";nizt? and confess these diseases and in ha\ino; the for- 



9 

titiule !ui(l skill to cure them, however painful the ()])ei'a- 
tions may be; it is in these directions, not in the cultivation 
of local or sectional ideas, that New England su[)criority is 
to he shown in tiie future, if it is to be shown at all. 

The toast, ''The Embarkation of the Pilgrims," was an- 
swered by a sentiment from Rev. Dr. J. (t. Merrill, and 
read by the secretary as follows: 

We are told that the bovs on the shore hurrahed, and the 
men on board the Mayflower fired their muskets and a piece 
of ordnance in reply, when, departing for the New World, 
they rang out across the sea, not the greatness of their 
deeds, but the might of the faith and the courage of the Pil- 
grim Fathers. 

The true i)ilgrim is always at his best when hv is ready 
to end)ark. From the time that the patriarch, Abraham, 
went West, at the call of God, until the hour when the sons 
of New England crossed the great river, with its prairies 
and mountains beyond, the i)ilgrim si:)irit has possessed true 
sonls, ready to take their lives in their hands, for the sake 
of duty. And this si)irit flows in the veins of all who, far 
from the sea and Plymouth Hock, are ready in the new civ- 
ilization, alone, in the face of tiieir kind, to embark upon 
any truth, that will bless our grand domain. 

On every such voyajje may no St. Louis son of New En- 
o;land fail to embark. 

"The New England Colonies'" was responded to by 
Charles E. Brigo;s, M. D., as follow^^ viz.: 



3fr. CJiairmun, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

We have inherited from our ancestors a noble past. It 
is well to recall it, to dwell upon it, that we may receive 
inspiration for the work that lies before us Distinguished 
from the men of their times only by a divine impulse which 
they struggled to obey, they were the honored agents in a 
moyement towards freedom of thought and religious 



10 



life, wliich. wo Ijeliove upon ever increasing evi- 
dence, was fioni the heirinnins;, under divine sruidance. 
"When we thiidv of {lie sinaUness of the (ti-oui) iandiu"" 
that Monday at Plj'uiouth, amounting with those in tiie 
vessel to only about one hundred, and that fifty-one of them 
di('(l (hiring the winter and the ensuing spring, we won- 
der at the great conseciuenees which were to follow. 

The event we c()mnieiiu)rate, the planting of the first st'vd 
of the New England Colonies, is only one in a series of oc- 
currences, brouirlit al)()ut bv the same vital and informiii"- 
l)riiici|)le. The essential idea of Puritanism has existed 
U-.).n iKiU' ".miiitMn;)ri:d, wherever earnest .xxils have soug.it 
union with (Jod without intervening forms and ceremonies, 
l)Ut tiie circumstances, which led to the overt acts of the 
Puritans of the times of dames and his })i-e(lecessor on the 
Kngiisli throne may well eiigagi' our attention to-day. The 
revolt from the supremacy of the Pope and the 
wide circulation of the I)il)lc in the Kii<dish tongue, 
gave both the opportunity and the .-pur to action. 
W'iien, upon lier entry into London, the citizens 
presented lo (^uecii KH/abeiii an Knglish liible. and she, 
ki-sing ii, prondx'd "dibgently to icad Iherem,"" a spirit 
wa> encouraged which, accjuinng force from perseeiil ion, 
w as (je~t itied e\-eiil iially to dethrone an Kngbsh mon;irt-h and 
|)laiit an empire beyond the seas. 

It was ahout this time ( 1 .')(iO ) that Wni. lirew-ter was 
born — tiie riding ehler of the Piln'rim-, Ironi w iioni a num- 
erous race has >prung. Many in thi> room can d()ui)tless 
trace t heir lineage to him. 

Let u> touch brielly upon the main points of hi> life, that 
we may be reminded of what manner of men made Pl\- 
nioutli t-olony po>>ibh'. Alter passing some time at the 
University of ('ambridge he h'ft it, whih'yet a young man, 
for a cari'cr at coart, entering the seiwice of William Dav- 
ison. (Mie of Kli/abeth's secretaries ot state. 'J'here he was 



11 

associated in office with a member of the famil>' of a prot- 
ectant martyr, burned at the stake by bloody Mary. 

It is interestino- to read that he was brouo;ht in contact 
with Sir Philip Sidney, to wiioni he delivered the keys of 
Fhishing in the Low Countries, of which keys 
he had been made temporary custodian in 1585. 
His master. Secretary Davison, shortly after, for an offi- 
cial imprudence, which directly hastened the execution of 
Mary Stuart, was sent by Elizabeth in disgrace to the 
Tower, and all opportunity of court preferment was lost to 
his young dependant. But Brewster's brief career was full 
of lessons to him in the highest school of experience, oivino" 
him an insight into the tendencies and possibilities 
of the time, the aggressions of Si)ain and her sym- 
pathizers, and the hopes of the Protestants. After 
remaining some time with Davison, notwithstandino; 
his disgrace, Brewster retired from London to a numor 
house of the Archbishop of York, at Scrooby in Notting- 
hamshire, near the border line of Yorkshire. It was at 
this place that the Separatist liobinson, in 1()()(). ministered 
to the little congregation that was the source of the Pilgrim 
band. 

The accession of James in KIOo. had not lessened for non- 
conforming Protestants the hardships initiated l)y Eliza- 
betii. Brewster and his friends determined to tiy froni 
Scrooby, leaving Bost(ui by vessel, and seek religious free- 
dom in the Low Countries. They were betrayed in their 
tirst attempt and made prison(n's. Brewster, as the 
chief [)erson of the company, suffered the greatest 
loss of property, and was kept longest in prison. A 
successful attempt was soon after made and resultt'd in 
the formation of the settlement of refugees in Leyden, 
He remained there in exile and hardships for somewhat 
over ten years, teaching English, jjrinting religious books 
forbidden in England, and directing the affairs of his little 



12 

eomiuunity. He was sixty years old wlicii he ivfunied to 
Eiighind to enter into neo-otiatioiis whicli |)roniised the 
pilirriiiis an untranunelled life in the New World. 
After their discouragino: experience of liviiiir in a strano-e 
land in Leyden, the Pilo-rinis soiioht the wilderness deliber- 
ately. Faith in their hiuh purposes enal)led them to i)erse- 
v(>re throiiuh privation, sickness and the great mortality of 
Ihcir associates. It was IJrcwster's ofiicc to cheei- and eii- 
rouragc them, 

l)i;i-ing the terrors of the first winter, when two 
or three woidd sometimes die ill one dav, and 
but six or seven sound per>ons were left to attend to the 
sick in all necessary othces, which they di<l -without anv 
o-rudgmo/* therein showing --tlieir true love unto their 
brethren." The revei-end elder was among these good Saniar- 
itaus. He lived to bi' eighty-four years old, seeini-- the dav 
(l(i41) when monai-ciiy and prelacy in Kngland, shaken 
to their ceiitro through their own encroachments and arro- 
gance, were u|)oii the point of fallinir. 

The colony which he helped to found, and the other sis- 
ter settlements in New Eun-land. i-eceived protjablv not a 
thousand lU'W comers in the ten years siil)se(iuei)t to ICi'O. 
F>ut discontents were meanwhile ripening in England. 
The stern policy of Laud, Arcl)bi>hop of CanterlKiry, 
'"adc it imp,,s>ible foi- many Puritans, of all social 
classes, to remain within the National Church or stav 
in England. Some twenty thousand Englishmen set- 
•''■'' '"> -"^''^v England between l(;;^o_p). ()f ^[^^.^^ 
Mdton says in his sonorous languaire: 'AVhat 
luimbersof faithfid and free-born Englis^lnnen have been 
constraine.l t,, forsake theirdearest home, their friends and 
kindred, whom nothing but the wide ocan and the savage 
deserts of America could hide and shelter from the furv of 
the bishops : Oh, sir, if we could but see the shape of' our 
dear mother England, as poets are wont to give a personal 



13 

form to what they please, how would she ap})ear, think ye? 
but in a mourning weed, with ashes on her head, and tears 
abundantly flowino; from her eves, to behold so many of 
her children exposed at once, and thrust from things of 
dearest necessity." 

After this period hoi)e dawned for the Puritan in 
his native land. Laud's policy of "Thorough," was 
met by the "Root and Branch" movement of his opjx)- 
nents. The long Parliament began in lii4(). t]mio;ra- 
tion to New England was checked, and the overthrow 
of the ruling powers in Great Britain was at iiaiid. 
Thus these twenty-one thousand Englishmen established 
the colonies of New England. Eor one hundred and tifty 
years no considerable foreign element brought other blood 
to this community. Says the historian Palfrey: "There is 
probably not a county in England occupied by a population 
of i)urer English blood than theirs." Leading lives of in^ 
dustry and frugality, they have been a prolific race. In 
I'SoS it was estimated that their descendants numbered 
seven or eight millions. It is probable that the number 
now may be about ten millions. The wealth of Massachu- 
setts alone is now reckoned in thousands of millions of 
dollars, and since the beginning of this century the sons 
and dauo-hters of New England have been carry- 
ing their industry and ca})ital to other parts of 
the Union, looking for wider fields of action. Is 
there not danger that all this gri)wtli and worldly pros- 
perity may make us forget more important things? Let us 
ask ourselves do we, like our forefathers, give our labor 
and our influence to the true life of these times. Let us 
think of them as incentives to noble lives, as men and citi- 
zens. When Xenophon was spurring on his companions to 
deeds of valor he reminded them of their ancestors, of 
whose exploits the trophies were still to be seen as memo- 
rials ; but, he says, "The greatest of all the memorials, is 



14 

llu' lit)(!rty of tlie States in whicli 3'()u are born and bred, 
for you vvorshi}) no man as master, but tlie godn alone. Of 
sucli aneestors are 3^011 spruno;." 

Let us keep in our minds tlu; memories of the forefath- 
ers, of their faith and their works! and their names w ill 
stir our hearts like the sound of trumpets ! 

Tiie President havinjj; read the fourth regular toast — 

"PLYMOUTH liOCK, TIIL AMERICAN BLAKNEY 

iSTONE," 

remai'ked that P). I). Lee, Est}., was to have responded to 
it, was unavoidal)ly al)s('nt, and he would have to eall upon 
one at his elbow, jx'i'.^onally known to all New England 
people, (ien. \\ . V. Sherman, and that he would not ex- 
pect him to limit himself to the literal task. 

Gen. Sherman, risinii;, said: 
Friends of the. New Eiiriland Society: 

1 am rtsaliy ghul to meet you on this, the first banciiu^t of 
the New Enuland Society, in this <>reat c\t\ of St. Louis. 

'^riiouixh not tioin in New Enii'iand, I am of XeiV Enuland 
|)ar('iits. both of Norwalk, Connect iciit , who niiiiralcd to 
Ohio in 1 'S 10 ; a lid it has been my habit ot" late years to at tend 
the New Euiiland banciuets of Ib'ookly 11 and New \'ork ('ity. 
There the\' exhibit the traits ol' our forefathers in makin<; 
up for t he hard>hi|)s of t heir ancestors, by ha\inu' lico ni<i'lits 
of feastin<i' — lirooklyn celebratinir the iMst. and New ^'ork 
the 22(1, at both of wliicn pretty much the same individuals 
meet. Tliese l)an(iiu'ts e(|ual, if not sur[)ass, anv similar 
festivities on this eontinen!; either in the sumpt uous dis- 
play of food and wines, as well as of ehxiuenee and wit. 

In looking back overtlu' history of our country, we real- 
ize that the litth; colony' whudi landed on Plymouth Kock in 
the bleak w inter of IG2O, was the seed, planted in a hardy 



15 

sf)il, which has grown into a tree which shadows a continent. 
Before landino;, they agreed to be governed bv the hiws of 
God, till they had time to make better. First the family, 
then the town, then the country, and finally, the State, 
they became the model for that wond'erfal Union of 8tate>, 
which has sheltered us up to our present grandeur as a 
nation. The industry, the thrift, the intelligence and de- 
votion to religious liberty and equal rights of all good citi- 
zens, which characterized the early inhabitants of New En- 
gland, form now the solid production on which American 
liberty and nationaiity securely rest. 

I trust, Mr. President, that this Society will rontinue to 
meet annually, in your own way, to do honor to the virtues 
and manhood of your progenitors. New England is famous 
to-ilay, by reason of the manhood of her men, and the wo- 
manhood of her women; and wherever the child, and grand 
child, and great-grand-child, may be, they should meet and 
do reverence to the Pilurims who landed at Plymouth Rock, 
and nowhere better than in this great central city of the 
continent, St. Louis. 

THE PURITAN. 

Rev. J. C. Learned responded to this toast, as follows: 

My respect for you, Mr. President, rose to something 
like admiration when you had the courage to ask me to 
speak upon this theme. Do you not know that the "Puri- 
tan" is a prickly subject for the heresy to handle? Can 
you be sure beforehand, what any possible descendant of 
Mary Dyer, or (liles Corey, or Anne Hutchinson, or Roger 
Williams will say of thir^ character? It seems to me, that 
if vou had o-iven me some neutral subject, like "bean por- 
ridge," or "education," you would have run much less risk. 

I have to confess that I take the Puritan with a grain of 
allowance. He did not do as we do, or feel as we do. Very 



littlo, I fear, could he a])i)r()ve of us or our doinfjs. 
For cxanipU', lie did not like the sound of instrumental 
nuisie — organs, hoi ns or ticUUes — as we (h). He took no 
(k'liiiht in ehurcli-i)ells and chimes — as we do. He would 
not eat mince pies at Christmas — as we do. He was not 
"total a'lstinence" — as we are. ^^'hy, tiic first 
treaty ever made in this country with the Indians 
(that hetucen W'lnslow and Massasoit), was sealed, 
as 1 un(U'rstand the histor\', with a ju<r of o-ood ohl Holland 
gin I And lu^ was so afraid of tin? effect upon his health of 
the crystal unadulterated waters of ■Massachusetts, that 
from tin* first he encouraged th(\ importation of liberal sup- 
])lies of ale and l)eer from the old country. And I infer 
from a i"ei,yark of Leonard liacon, that some were deterred 
fi'om coming over at all, lest they should fail to find a sup- 
[)ly of the favorite and neccf^sary beverage here. He felt 
just as a (xerman would feel, to-day, who thought of set- 
tling in some Iowa or Kansas t-()\vn ; not asking how he 
shoidd get along without his glass ot" lagcu', but what sort 
of dodge or crookednciss he should iiaveto perpetrate to ob- 
tain it. l\()binsoii regretted, in writing from Holland, to his 
|)arishi()n(;rs, that, in theii' dealings with the Indian, they 
often killed him before they converted him. That is not 
our way; we have re(;tified all that. First, we always send 
out a nnssionary to make him a Chi'istiaii: then, we send 
an agent along ti) swindle him and make him a pau- 
per. After that wt^ can kill him at ph-asure without con- 
science or apolog}^. So we have come to differ 
from the Puritan in our theory of voting. He 
didn't want anybody and (everybody to take part in 
elections — as we do. He went to work and disfran- 
chised three-foui'ths of all the men in Massachusetts because 
they didn't belong to the church. We do not now ask a 
man at the polls if he is a church-member! In fact, it 
would api)ear that church-members are very scarce 



17 

on election days. And we begin to think that 
the best, if not the only way, to get chiii'ch-mem- 
bers to the ballot-box, is to give the vote to women. 
The Puritan at one time wanted to exterminate the Qua- 
kers. This is not our feelino; — we can't "-et enoucrh of 
them. Besides, he cultivated an unpleasantness with the 
Baptists, and tried to drive them all into NarragansetL B ly. 
We would like to see the man who wishes to try that lit- 
tle game now, or dares to be on ill terms even with the 
Baptists hereabouts. 

And vet the Puritan was not so black as he has been 
painted. Why, we know that even the followers of Darwin 
are misrepresented. Prof. Gunning, the lecturer and ge- 
ologist, when down in Florida, was thought to be a danger- 
ous fellow. "Why, (said the son of a preacher) they say 
he is a Darwiner/' "Oh," replied Gunning's friend, "he's 
worse than that — he's an evolutionist.^^ "j^Iy God," ex- 
claimed the man, '^does he practice itT'' 

Perhaps, however, we can honor the Puritan all the more, 
for having ceased to practice some thino;s which he held to 
be important. There were other matters fundamental to 
his conduct and vital to his life, wliicli, so to speak, had 
the quality of eternity in them, principles which 
have won the admiration of all rio;ht-thinkino; men. 
He had a relifjious belief from which we have widely de- 
parted. He had a morality which was narrow, wanting in 
perspective, and which we no longer follow. His fear of 
God cast out love; his stern and over-scrupulous laws bore 
hard upon tender consciences. But there was an intensity 
of faith in him, and a moral sentiment of such tremendous 
force, that it made the age in which he lived bright with the 
prophecy of better things, luminous of new life and liberty. 
If as Hume said, "It was to this sect * * that the 
Eno'lish owe the whole freedom of their constitution;" still 
more do we in America owe to it an independant secular 



18 

governinont and a free church. The Puritan was a strict 
scripturalist and a stoical moralist, hut he was the liberal of 
his time. He stood for individualism and reality, 
as against blind custoni and precedent and sham. 
And those I hold to be his true descendants, not who 
think what he thought, or imitate him m any spirit of ser- 
vilit\-, but who have the courag^e to dissent fi'om every error 
and to de))art fi'om every wrong they may be able to dis- 
covei'. "More light," said John Robinson, "is to break 
forrh from God's holy word."' More truth is to ))e re- 
vealed in every realm of God's universe. And if we have 
the conscii'uce and tidelity of these our ancestors whom we 
rememlx'i- here to-night, we shall contribute to the higher 
life of the ajje in which we live. 

"Faith in (iod, faith in man, faiih in work — this," says 
^Ir. Lowell, "is the short formula in which we may sum 
up the teachings of the founders of New England— a creed 
ample enough for this life and the next," 

"The Yankee in St. Louis" was responded to by .lames 
Iviehardson, Ks(].. as follows: 

Mr. /'f(si(/(iif, fja((!('S(n>(l (Tciilh inoi : 

I do not see my name upon the programme. Xeveilhe- 
less, 1 should be perfeetK' deliu'litecl to make \()U a l)rief 
sneecli. if 1 had aii\thiu<>; interest iiiii' to sa\", or \()U had 
tiuu- to listen to nu-. Tne Pilgrims unifoiinly retired early. 
Miles Standish, e\('U when workiiii; on his famous eouit- 
ship, was always at home l)y the tune his old clock struck 
nine and only stayed out late at night, when he went a gun- 
ning for Indians. I shall therefoi'e content myself with re- 
feri'iiig with constantly e.\i)an<lii)g enu)tions of honest pride, 
to the \'aid\ee in St. Louis, es|)ecially to tlu' ladii's, and 
close my remarks by making my obeisance to the audience, 
after the manner 1 was taujrht some sixty vears ai^o in the 
old red school-house, at the foot of the hill, in my native 
State of Now llam[)shire. 



19 
''THE MAYFLOWER." 

RESPONSE BY WILLIAM G. HAMMOND, L.L.D. 

I must own, Mr. President, that when you gave me no- 
tice, ten days ago, that I was expected to make my "few 
unpremeditated remarks" on this subject, it seemed to me 
impossible to say anything new about the Mayflower. 
Every New Enghmder knows tiie picturesque group, in 
which the Pilgrim fathers and mothers knelt around the 
Rev. John Robinson, and heard what was undoubtedly one 
of the most touching })rayers ever delivered to a Puritan 
audience; the Speedwell meanwhile waiting to begin that 
memorable voyage. Everybody knows, too, that "The 
breaking waves dashed high, on a stern and rock-bound 
coast" when that voyage was ended, as undoubtedly they 
did on many such coasts in various quarters of the world, 
but not where the Pilgrims landed, upon the sands 
of Cai)e Cod or the low shoi-es of Plymouth. The 
only fact I could recall, not familiar to everybody in 
this connection, was a view of the scene at Delft Haven 
published by one of our most pretentious magazines in my 
younger days, and therefore perhaps unknown to some of 
my hearers. It was a steel-))late engraving, duly heralded 
beforehand and boasted of contemporaneously, as costing a 
fabulous sum and executed by our own artists — if not ex- 
actly "sketched on the spot" by that ubiquitous personage 
— in which to the prayer-meeting on the shore and the 
Speedwell in the ofHng was added the novel feature of a 
steam tug, waiting at the dock, to take the passengers to 
the ship ! And, by the way, when 1 hear the Puritans lauded 
on this and other occasions for their love of religious liber- 
ty, and their charitable spirit, and many other virtues that 
they probably would have had if they had lived in oui" 
days, but which they would have repudiated most zeal- 
ously in their own, I am always reminded of that 



20 



steain-tu<2; in ii scene of the seventeenth centnry\ I 
nieun no disrespect to the Puritans, when I den}^ thein 
these anachronistic virtues. I can do full justice to their 
narrow hut stronjj:; souls, their puri)oses high but by no 
means broad, l>ut I cannot forget that I am a Rhode Is- 
lander, proud of my descent from one who was banished 
from Massachusetts with Anne Hutchinson because her doc- 
ti'iues snowed some slight savor of the heresy which is now 
j)rcached every Sunday b\- my friend across the table, 
(Rev. Ml". Lenrned,) and scarcely less so of the other an- 
cestor, who was whipped at the cart's tail through the 
sti-ee(s of l)Oslon for preaching on lioston Common the 
doctrine of the elo([uent divint' at the head of this tabh^ 
(Dr. iioyd.) 

r>iit il is time to get back to the ^lavHower, and to con- 
fess that after taking the beggai'ly account of my stock of 
knowledii'e on the subject alrea<lv given, I went to our 
Mercantile Lihi'ary to see wiiat I could learn about that 
famous sliip. An houi there (among treasures that de- 
serve to he much bettei" housed than they are) tilled me 
with details of that memorable V()v;ii2;e, and 1 onl\- wish 1 
could iiitei'est you for my allotted ten minutes as I myself 
was interested for that hour in what I learned. We who 
aiH' aci'Ustome(l to cross the Atlantic fei'iy in six or seven 
da\s and grumhU' if th(> passage extends to I'ight — who 
peep down occasionally into the airy and roomy steerage, 
and wondei' how human beings can e.xist a week in such 
([uarters — can hardly conceive what that voyage, of tive 
months m all, of sixty-Hve days from land to land, really 
was. 'i'he Mayllower was a ship ot ISO tons, about half 
the size of one of our river I)ari2;es in which Sundav-school 
children go down the i-iver foi- a day's pic-nic. Saw a barge 
in two, across tlu^ mid(ll(\ plaids, the open c\u[ of the stern- 
most half straight across, and you w ill probably have not a 
bad notion of her model. Duriu"; the latter half of the 



21 

voyao;e tli(^ vveathei- was so bad that the 102 passengers were 
kept below deck with the liatches closed. No wonder that 
when at hist they made a temporary landing on Cape Cod, 
the tirst use made of the dry land by the female pilgrims 
was to have washing day, "of which they had good need." 
'J\vo children had been born into the stifiino; air between 
decks, thus keej)ing the number good, although one nian 
had died on tlie voyage over, and the wife of one of the 
leaders was drowned by the shores of their new Lome. 

I would like if time permitted me to speak of one scene 
in that dark cabin, when the first social contract ever 
formed in ex))rcss terms amon"; men was sio:ned there, for 
the government of the body in that new home, and the i"e- 
})ression of the jealousies and discontents produced by their 
long confinement, even in a ship-load of saints. The dream 
of philoso[),iic jurists, the ideal government of the Ger- 
manic races became a sober fact in the Mayflower's hold. 
But to this History has already done justice, and I close 
with a minor fact commoidy overlooked. The Mayflower 
layoff Pl3nnouth till the following A{)ril, while the little 
colony saw its darkest days of cold, pestilence, almost star- 
vation. But when, in the cheerless New England spring, she 
weighed anchor, and spread her canvas petals to waft her 
back to England — in the language of that day to return 
home — not one of the pilgrims, man, woman or child, was 
weak enouo;h to abandon the faith and go back in her ! 

"THE NE>Y ENGLAND CLERGY" 

Was responded to by Rev. Dr. Boyd, as follows: 

Mr. Beecher once said to me, "New P^nglind is a good place 
to be born in, it is a good place to be reared in, it is a good 
placet© be educated in, but a man had better get out of it as 
soon as possible after that." [Laughter.] It is apparent this 
evening that Mr. Beecher is not the only man who entertains 



22 



that ()|)iiii{)n, and it is apparent, too, that they are the most 
active and vigorous Yankees wlio emigrate, and tiiey 
aic tlie least robust and virile who remain in New En- 
gland. I exi)ect these sentiments will find a hearty response 
in your hearts to-ni^ht, for in every western city we iind 
the vio;or of New Enjjland life. We must admit notwith- 
standing what has been said abaiit New England 
ideas, that certain New England ideas are forcing them- 
selves westward and southward, and it is on this |)()int, 
and this })()int alone, that I desire to say just a word. 

^^'e owe a lastino- debt of o-ratitudc to the New England 
clergy for e>tal)lishing at letist two principles that are work- 
ing theii' way slowly into the West and South — principles 
that must be establisli(>(l in our civilization, or we 
shall not keej) })ace with the rest of th(i country. 
The first is tlu; liberiy of oriiriual development — the right 
of a nian to develop according to his individuality. 
Say what we will about Puritan pastors, say what we will 
about the New England clergy, a majority of the New 
England clergy of all schools of religious thought, has in- 
sisted upon the right of [)rivate judgment, has insisted on 
the light of individuality. And the next thing is the neces- 
sity of a rational system of religious thought. It iias been 
clainuid that the theology of New England, from the begin- 
ning has been rationalistic I'at her t ban natural. 'i'liose 
grand old men, the Puritans, a})[)ealed to the inti'l- 
lectual rathei' than the (Muot ional nature. They had sub- 
strata of philosophic thought under their theology, 
and they represented intelh^ctualism as opi)osed to emotion- 
alism. Why is it that m any section, the pulpit 
is decaying? Simply because; the church in that 
section has set itself against these two princi- 
ples which have been emphasized in the whole history of 
the New England clergy. It has declared that a man 
should not be himself; that he should submit to the dicta- 



23 

tions of a church or creed ; and it has moreover, ap- 
pealed to the emotional nature rather than the intellectual. 

Why we sometimes talk of those old Puritan sermons and 
wonder how men could believe such a stern and terrible 
theolofjy and ever smile, yet we remember that 
some of those grand old Puritan preachers were about as 
fat and sleek in their physical appearance as a person could 
well be. Their theology did not seem to affect their physi- 
cal well-being at all, and we wonder at the apparent incon- 
sistencies between their creed and outward life. Yet rijxht 
in the c\iy of St. Louis, within a month, a whole company 
of ministers has been convulsed with laughter, b}' the rude 
witicism of an uncouth revivalist on the awful subject of 
everlasting punishment. 

We wonder again at these inconsistencies between theol- 
ogy and the outward life, and we cannot go back to the Puri- 
tans and attach blame only to them. As the light cometh 
from the east and shineth unto the west, so it is in the 
histor}' of this land. We stand right here between the 
sliock of two opp:)sing forces of thoug'it, and if vve 
are true to the history of our sires we shall stand for intel- 
lectualism as afjainst emotionalism ; we shall stand for the 
liberty of individual development, along the lines of one's 
own being, as op[)()sed to any dictation of church or creed. 
We shall stand for the truth of nature as well as the truth 
of God. 

^lay we be true to our New England cultivation ! For I 
tell you, that when such names as Edwards, and Emmons, 
and Hopkins, and Channing, and Parker, and Seelye, and 
the princes of the present New England ])ulpit, come to 
mind, 1 feel that I am under the deepest obligation to be 
true to the traditions of the pulpit of New England, which 
has aiwa>^s been on the side of the right, always on the side 
of the nation, always on the side of humanity. 



•24 
-THE YANKEE EVERY AMIEUE," 
Was responded to by Hon. E. O. Stananl as follows: 
Mr. Chairman, LrrdUsi^ Gentleman: 

I suppose the most acceptable thinir [ can say now is 
that my remarks will be short. The speach I infended'to 
mnke has been m.de by several -entlemen already, better 
than I can make it, and I In.veonly a few observations with 
which to detain you. 

Some of n.y friends here have t„ld me that thev supposed 
me a born western man. but 1 am glad to infonn them 1 
was born in New Enolan.l, T am not responsible however for 
coming west as my parents brought me awav from there 
befoi.. lean remember. It is natural and c'on.mendable 
tor people to cherish their old homes, and to have a fond 
ivcoUectmn for the land of tlu-ir nativity, ami I am suro 
none of us are disposed to apologize for the fact that we 
were born in New England, but rath.u- to be proud that we 
are t^ie descendants of a most nol.l,. ra.-e of men and women 

of whom It is safe to say th.y have don. as nnu-h as any 

other class of people for education an<l the advance of the 
arts and srH.,K...s, for tlu^ pron.olion of agriculture and 
'nanutactonrs, and f.n-thc gviirral I.ettrnn. nt of Ilu> condi 
t.ouof mankind, as wHI as for good o-ov.rn,n.mt Their 
lives have alM)undrd „, .xan.plrs of economy, thrift enter 
pi-.se and philanlhrogy. I Wo not l.dicv. a man horn in 
Now England naturally better, or more cnlcrprisn..- than if 
^orn anywhere else, but h. is largvly a creature ..f lKd)it and 
controled by necessity ; and especially in the eaili<.r <lavs it 
was the hah.t of all th,. pe<,,,le to work, and to work vjoor- 
ously no matter what the nature of the a vocal ion_whet1ier 
physical or mental. The soil wa. barren and the climate 
cold and It was either labor or starve, and from the nature 
of the case, the yankee sought out fainu- lan<ls until now he 



25 

compasses the earth, and in reality he is felt and known 
everywhere. But I promised I would not muRe a speech.. 

With assurance of great pleasure for the opportunity of 
being with you, I give way for the interesting part of the 
programme, yet to follow. 

THE YANKEE SCHOOL MA'AM. 

Was responded to by Prof, C, M. Woodward of Washinof- 
ton University as follows: 

Mr. President. — It is somewhat remarkal)le that after the 
minute division of labor shown on the programme, you 
should have assi«:ned to me the lion's share. lam fortunate 
not only in being allowed to speak for one half of us, but 
even for the "better half." 

The school mistress has been, and still is, a 
power in our western civilization. Leave out 
the school-marms, and what would you have left? And 
she is em|)hatically a yankee institution. Her home 
was in New England. From that center she has spread 
over the great West, and she is finding her way into the 
South. Wherever she goes, she carries sweetness and 
light; her appearance is like the dawn of a new day. 

It was my good fortune to be born on a farm in Massa- 
(•husetts, and later to be under the fostering care of several 
excellent school mistresses. I recall them with pleasure. It 
was my [)rivilege to do, what I suppose every healthy boy 
our>"ht to do, when iiitiniatelv associated with interesting 
youno- women several years older than himself: I 
fell innocently, and harmlessly in love with each 
one of them, and 1 nt)w l)elieve it did me good. 
Here in St. Louis we have felt her influence. In 1S4}), 
1 think it was, the School lioard sent Mr. Edward Wynian 
east to enlist a half dozen "Yankee School-Marms" to as- 
sist in building up a system of public schools in 
this city. He got them, and the} did their work. 



2G 



find to-(l;iy we owe thein ffratitiide. The State toe 
has sliarcd in their beniofii intiuence. AVhen it was 
])i"()|)()!-;e(l to develop the lesources of this fji-cat eoin- 
inonwealth, by buildinii' a i"aib-oad from St. Louis to Kansas 
City, the u'overnor of the State opposed it, on the ground 
that no sooner would the road be oj)ened, than the State 

wouhl l)e flooded by Yankee SehooI-^Iarnis I And he 

WT\s light. The road was built, and the sehool-niaruis 
eame; I ouIn' wish there had been more of them. Thev are 
still needed in c-ertain benighted sections where too often 
an ineompctent sehool master, to the manoi' born, iiolds 
tiie posUion of teaeher in order to keep the school money 
in the *Mlee>trii-t." 

Yes. 1 say we ought t-o thaidv(i.) I for the school-marms, 
and foi" Horace Mann who ()i'i>ani/>ed the first Normal S'-hool 
in Massachusetts tluit theii" number and their \alue miirht 
be increased. The condition of the next ireneration is to 
be determined l)\' the education we give our children in this. 
Let it be bi'oad, round, and jiulicii)us, and the future will 
t)e secuic. In this work ourstrv)ng ally istiu' ScJio:)l-M;irm. 
So I repeal "( bid bles^ 1 he Schooi-Marms." ' 

d. M. doi'dau Ls(|., here gave a \'ery truthful and happy 
\t'i'.->iou of the old time yaukee ilialect and rendered tin; 
tiiuehin"' tale of "Jemima's Couil^hii)"" and recited Lou'i- 
fellow's "^andalphon." 

Mr. ('. IL Sampson re|)lied to "The New Lnu:lander\s 
pride in the land of his nativity."" He stiid: 

It is human nature to be proud of one's nat ive land. The 
\'irginiau manifests |iardonal)le pride as he asserts that he 
hails from the ()1(1 Dominion, the home of Washington, 
fJeffer.--on and Lee. The Kent lu-kiau , wit h admirable assur- 
ance, informs you that he is from the home ol' llenry (Ma\', 
the land of the handsonu'st women, the finest hoi'ses and the 
best whisk\' in Anu-rica. The (iernuin tidls wondrous tales 



27 

of *'Fatherland," while the Irishman's eye sparkles as he 
sings the songs of the Emerald Isle. It is not immodest 
for us, who tirst saw light under the blue skies of New 
England, to feel proud of its rugged mountains and fertile 
valleys : the land chosen by our Pilgrim Fathers as a haven 
of liberty. We have a heroic ancestry. Some may con- 
tend that its heroism was not unmingled with fanaticism; 
but it was this ancestry, through suffering and self denfal 
that made it possible to create a free and independent nation. 
Each generation has left an indelible imijression 
on its age, producing men who have reached the highest 
pinnacle of fame. Philanthropists, statesmen, philoso})hers 
and poets have added many a gem to its crown. The his- 
toric MavHower, thouivh tempest-tossed, followed the cjuid- 
ing star of heaven, and landed at Plymouth Rock the 
noblest band of mortals that was ever borne on the ocean's 
crest — immortals whom God had endowefl wHh abundant 
brain, nerve and heart. 

New England has a history that stands forth like a brilliant 
diadem in the annals of the world. We are upon the tlires- 
hold of the second century of the i-epublic. Our thoughts 
revert to the years that have elapsed since its first struggle 
for existence. We remember the hardships and privations 
that those old patriots endured while they were coiistrui-l- 
infjthe foundatu)ns for the jji'i'idest Government in tiieuni- 
verse. We note its progress. The tender bantling has 
assumed mas-;ive proportions, the thirteen oi-iginal States 
have added link to link and strength to strength, until now 
our unity of thirty-eight commands the res|)ect and admir- 
ation of the world. Tiiroushout New Eno-land the din of 
machinery resounds from ever}' side; whether it be the 
spindles of the cotton mill or the beating of brass, it is 
music to thousands upon thousands of both sexes; for by 
this melody they are enabled to gain an honest livelihood. 
Schools of all grades and colleges of the highest rank 



2^ 

fibound within its limits. From i-lieso institutions a lefion 
lias irono forth to i2:rac(' the i)rofesssions and to educate 
mankind. 

The footprints of the sauiruine Yankee are found in every 
hx-ality. He has i)enetrated the wilds of Africa. He has 
sought the North ])ole in vain, he has engraved his name on 
the pyramids of P^gypt, and has lighted his pii>e by the 
tires of Vesuvius. New Enuland — ever the home of ];)ro(i'res.s 
— has infused a spirit of enter[)rise into tlu^ eommereial 
veins of our nation. (Jreat inventions have wr()U(>-ht mar- 
velous changes. The slow transit of the early days will 
soon be forgotten. Saddlebags are seldom seen, except as 
relics. The stage coach and four is a luxury of the past ; 
for the iron monster detianth' traverses the land; j)alatial 
steamships ply the waters; the telegraph girdles the globe; 
we talk, hear and see by electricity. 

New Kngland — the eml)odiment of all that is beautiful 
an<l graml in nature, the liaroiiigcr of knowledge, art and 
sci;'nce — liiy soiis ai'f pr.iud of llu'c. 

-THK l)A\' WE CKLEliRATK" 

W'a- responded to by lion. D. T. dcwett. He said: 

Tliis t'>a>t may be coii^idcri'd as asking — wh\' do we, citi- 
zens born and educ;itfd in New Kngland. (•elel)rat(' thrit daN? 
1 aiiswei-, because on tliat day, in tlu' yvnv ISi^lO, there 
landed at IMymouth about one hundred people men, women 
and children, who had lefl iMigl.ind tor the purpose of find- 
ing a place where they could enjoy religious libertw politi- 
i-al etiu.'il rights and general ediu-ation. 

And l)i'canse from that little band and those who ^oon 
followed them for hke purposes, have sprung a people who, 
liH' helicve, have more fully and com[)let(dy illustrated and 
cai'ried out those pi-inciples, than any other people on tlu^ 
fac(! of the earth. That day was [)r()perly the birth-day of 



29 

this nation as it now exists and will continue to exist. The 
leaven then and there plinted, has spread till its effect is to 
some extent, felt through tlie whole nation, and it is hoped, 
will continue to spread till all is one homoirenous body. 
Then and there was planted the little germ which sprouted 
and grew and flourished till it has spread its broad branches 
over this nation and given it character and power, prosperity 
and influence. I say it was tue birth-day of the nation as 
it is. But not because it was the fi7'st permanent colony 
planted in this country ; for an English colony was sent out 
and landed at Jamestown, Virginia, some ten or eleven 
3^ears before the Plymouth colony, and became a permanent 
settlement. But the Jamestown colony was sent out as a 
speculation, by an English company acting under a charter. 
They weie not self expatriated in pursuit of religious 
and political freedom. The}' were simply colonists or la- 
borers, sent out by a company of capitalists, who had a 
grant of the territories from the King. Soon after, the 
company sent out about a hundred girls for wives, and each 
man that wanted, look a wife on payment of htr passage- 
money in t()l)acco. History, however, says thev were re- 
spectable women. The English government also soon sent 
out to that colony wliite condemned criminals, and sold 
them to tlie planters. Negroes were also soon 
l)rought from Africa and sold to the planters as slaves. 
About tifty or sixty years after the colony was started, 
its governor (Berkley) wrote to England an account of it, 
m which he said the population was about 40,000, of whom 
six thousand were "white servants," and 2,000 slaves. He 
also says, "I thank God we have no free schools, nor print- 
"ing presses and hope we shall not have for :i hundred 
"3'ears ; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, 
"and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, 
"and libels against the government. — God keep us from 
"both." This was certainly not the spirit of those who 



30 
lnn<k",l on Ply.no.dh Rock, and f,-„n> .such .seed „s w,,s ,,Uu,t- 

C..iplnc,,llya„,l beautifully described by IJucob,, „s "a o.„v- 
enuneu, „, ,|,c |„.„|,lc. by ,b,. people and for tl,c peo.de " 

mat fiovei-uu.ent ba.l its origin December 22d l,s->(, 
ol,e»urc, the eloquent gentleman (Dr. Learned) „'l,o ha^ 
U.S addresscl us, has .b„u„ that the I'ilgrin.s bad ( u-hat 

".I now ..,-day.s be considered) s.nue faults. Hut we 
«" s, not expect perfection in the Hrst .lays of the sixteenth 

tury, ,n those who l,..,d just escaped fron. a country 

l' T;,"^ "itoleranc. and political oppression, uere 
tile order of the day. 

The d.u.no.Kl must be cut and n.l.hedand polished before 
its worth .•.Md beauty are knoun; and the diamond of char- 
acfer,.,. in the Pi|.,in.s, and time and hd.or and'polish, 
l^^'ve brought it out. Mrs. IJeu.ans, in her beautiful poem 
upon the Pdgiims, says; 

"What souo-ht they, thus afar? 

"liright jewels of lij,> miue? 
"The wealth of seas, the sp„ds of war? 

"They sought a faith's pure shrine. 
"Aye, call it holy ground, 

"'I'he soil wh.'re Hrst they trod, 
'''l^l"\v left unst,Mine<I what there they found, 

"Freedom to worship (Jod." 

J'- '^-vtary, W. n. Jlonu-r, then read the followin-r 
letters, and many others. ^ 

E.\i:( TTIVK Dki'akt.ment, ) 
lAlAvoirs Office, ' I 

'Sl. Loris, December 22d, 1885 

U. L. VVlIITELAW, E.S(^., 

7Wyrer JVnv Enr/Iand Society of 8t. Louis. 
Bear Mr: J „u,eh regret that n.y official duties, and 
other engagements, will prevent n^y acceptance of vour 



31 

vei'v kind invitation to the first annual dinner of the New 
Enii;hind Society this evenin<y. 

I liave dehived answerino; thus long in the ho|)e of beino; 
able to be present on that occasion, as I should be pleased 
to meet tlie members of your society, and attest to the es- 
teem in which they ai'e held by the municipal authorities of 
every city of importance throughout the country, all of 
which they have lent most effective aid in building up. So 
man}' of my })ersonal friends are included in your member- 
ship, that it would seem superfluous to add anything con- 
c(n"niiio; the high esteem in whicli I hold your individual 
me.n;ier-i. Accept my thanks for the <'()nrteoiis invitation 
von exiend to me, and also my assurance of highest reo-ard 
for your society. 

Yours respectfully, 

David R. Francis. 



St. Louis, Mo., December 2 2d, l.s.S'). 
H. M. Pollard, Esq., 

J*7'esidei>t New England Society of St. Louis. 
Dear Sir: With great regret, I And myself unable on ;ic- 
count of the state of my health, to be with the New En- 
gland Society on the celebration of Forefathers' Day, this 
evening. My warmest sympathies are with you in your 
endeavor to keep this day in perpetual memory, honor and 
siiiiiiHcance — as the dav on which some two hundred and 
sixty-four years ago, there touched the shores of the New 
World, then wilderness from ocean to ocean, forces most 
mighty and beneficient through all its future; a little band 
of men and women, exiles for "freedom to worship 
God," coming from out the wintry ocean, bringing with 
them in primordial germ, principles creative, organitic, cu- 
mulative and conservative of the civil, social and religious 



32 

life and order of our country — and most jjotent and vital 
on the civilization of the continent and of the modern 
world. 

In the interest of no class, or clan, or sect, or section or 
race, do we celebrate their advent; but in that of the })rin- 
ciples the\" brouiiiit, and the spirit in which t\\vy wrought 
for them. Those principles and tliat si)irit arc as diffnsive 
as the light, as expansive as human brotherhood, as broad 
indeed as humanity itself ; which as De 'J\)(|iu'rville says, 
"regained its rights on the cal)in of the Mayflower,'" and 
which stcpi)cd forth full })aiioplicd with its written Magna 
Charta on the shores of the New World; under the blazon 
of principles which bind in one brotherhood all lovers of 
liberty, truth and (lod, wherever found and of whatever 
color, country or clime. 

I need not say that we commemorate this day in no glori- 
fication of the bleak and sterile coast where they landed, 
but of a mission which, as history discloses, was for coun- 
ti-y, continent and race of man; nor of the personel of that 
solemn drama, save as the incarnation and confessors of 
the princi})les which animated it. Not as perfect archity})es 
do we })resent those men, exactl}^ to be reproduced or slav- 
ishly to co])y. AA'^e would not thus re))i'oduce ihem if we 
could, nor coidd we if we would. AA'e do not forget that 
the world has moved since theii' time, has uioNcd because 
of them. lin^}' builded larger and wiser than they kiu'W. 
The circumstances of their world, tlu' lights and shadows 
amid which they walki'd and which colored to them that 
world, have long since [)assed away. But their })rinciples, 
like the Alps, amid all shifting, cloudings andt'olorings, re- 
main immoval>le and immortal, 'i'heir confessors we may 
idealize — nevtu* idolize. Their methods and measures we 
amend or reject, liut their spirit to loyalty to believed 
truth and rijjht, is still tonic and vital as air from Heaven. 
It remains that we, with our own personality bearing the 



33 

stamp of our own times, do our own work — each in his own 
time and sphere, even as they did theirs, with strongest 
loyalty to believed truth and to the principles of God. 

And now, with the solemn march of history going on, 
with its changes, its corporations, its dangers, with its drift 
of influences threatening to dilute and enfeeble our original 
life principles, and to submerge our national institutions and 
our national life, with the use of social antagonisms and 
convulsions, menacing war on our moral, social, religious 
and political order, and on our Christian civilization itself, 
the times call on us to arm ourselves anew with the spirit 
and princii)les of heroic and martyr age, and move on with 
new courage and charge upon the powers of darkness. 

Therefore, it it is well for us and our children to observe 
this day, and as often as the circling year dips into Decem- 
ber's frost and storm, rally once with whatever gloom and 
tempest without, and gather around the old national hearth- 
stone, with its tires burning cheerily and brightly on ever- 
more. 

In the fellowship of common heroic memories and the in- 
spiration of common hopes for Christian liberty and truth. 

Most respectfully yours, 

T. M. Post. 



St. Louis, Dec. 7, 1885. 
H. M. Pollard, Esq., 

Dear Sir: — It comes hard to me to decline your com- 
plimentary and kind invitation, but am obliged to do so. 

Hojjing that you will have on Pilgrim day the best of 
good times, I remain, with thanks. 

Yours truly, 

W. G. Eliot. 



u 

Deer Foot Farm, Southborough, > 
Deceinbci' <Sth, 1<S85. 5 

FL M. 1\)LLARD, Es<i., 

Dear tSir: — I heoj to accept my .sincere thanks for tlie 
lionor you liave done by your invitation. I should be glad 
to see St. Louis, and to dine there in conmienioration of 
those wlio were as sincere ei'usaders (in theii' own way) as 
the King wiiose name it bears, but I have promised to dine 
at Plymoutli on tht.- 22(1. 

Faithfidl}' yours, 

J. K. LOWKLL. 



Washington, D. C, Dec. J», 1SS5. 
H. M. Pollard, Esq., 

ilf// Dear S!r: — I have dehiyed in answering your kind 
invitation, in behalf of the N. K. So'y of 8t. Louis, to at- 
tend your dinnei", in celebration of the landino; of the Pil- 
fj-rinis in the 22d inst., until I could ddcrmine whetlier 1 
could give myself the |)h'asure of accepting it. 

1 am SOI ry to sa\ that my engagements here and in New 

York will not permit me to come out to St. Louis for the 

22(1 inst., as 1 should be; very glad to do. ^^'ith \\\y thaid<s 

to the Society for the attention show 11 me b\- the invitation, 

I am, 

Yours resi)ectfully, 

\\m. AL Evarts. 



Sknatk Chamber, \Vashi\(;tox, D. C, ) 
December «th, 1885. 5 

Hon. IL ]\L Pollard, 

Pretiidejit of the N. E. Society, St. Lonis, Mo. 

Dear Sir: — 1 beg to thaid< you, and through your So- 
ciety, sincerely, fo»' your kind invitation to attend its an- 



35 

nual dinner on the 22d ]nst. I greatly regret that a 
previous engagement to a siniihir dinner as well as the great 
distance, will prevent my accepting. I wish for you and 
your associates that occasion and every other, every feli- 
city, and 1 trust that the spirit and influences t^at make 
New England societies in various {)arts of the country what 
they are, may continue to exist and have their perfect work. 
Industry, perseverance, sobriety, the love of liberty under 
law, and the promotion of religion and morality, are the 
things that New Eno;land ideas embrace, and these should be 
everywhere. In haste, 

Very sincerel}^ yours, 

Geo. F. Edmonds. 



OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1885. 



President, 
H. M. Pollard. 

Vice-Presidents , 

Elmer B. Adams. 
Alvah Mansur. 

Secretary^ 
W. B. Homer. 

Treasurer, 
Oscar L. Whitelaw. 



36 
Executive Committee: 

F. A. Pratt. 
Geo. D. Barnard. 
Lewis E. Collins. 
Fred. W. Drury. 
Lewis E. Snow. 



CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 

— OF THE — 

NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY 

— OF— 

ST. LOUIS. 



I. 

This Association shall be known as the "New England 
Society of St. Louis." 

II. 

The officeis of this Society shall be a President, three 
Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and Executive 
Committee, consisting of five members, together with the 



37 

President, Treasurer and Secretary, who shall be exofficio 
members thereof. All of whom shall be elected by the So- 
ciety, and shall hold their offices for one year, and until 
^he end of the meeting, at which their successors are elected. 

III. 

There shall be one meeting annually of the Society, which 
shall be held in December, the day to be fixed by the Exe- 
cutive Committee, at which meeting the tirst business shall 
be the election of the officers of the Society, for the ensu- 
ing year, and next any other business of importance to the 
Society shall be transacted. When the members and in- 
vited guests shall partake of an old-time New England din- 
ner, which shall have been prepared by the Executive 
Committee. 

IV. 

Any reputable resident of St. Louis or vicinity, of New 
Eno;land birth or rearing, shall be eligible to become a 
member of this Society upon making application to the Ex- 
ecutive Committee, paying the admission fee and subscrib- 
ing his name to the Constitution and By-Laws. 

V. 

The admission fee shall be one dollar, and the annual 
dues one dollar, and shall be [)ayable to the Treasurer, on 
on the loth day of November of each year, and in aildition 
to said dues each member who will particii)ate in the dinner 
shall transmit to the treasurer, with his annual dues, the 
sum of five dollars, to be used in defraying the expenses of 
the dinner. 

VI. 

Each member shall be entitled to bring to the annual 
meeting one person besides himself, who ma}^ participate m 



38 



the dinner, upon the payment by the nieniber of an addi- 
tional five dollars, and the executive committee may invite 
as many guests to participate in the dinner as the condition 
of the treasury shall warrant. 



MEMBERS or THE SOCIETY: 



E. T. Allen, AVilliam II. (\)llins, 

W. L. (;. P>. Allen, Lewis E. Collins, 

James E. Allen. E. C. Clnimherlin, 

Prof. DenliMin Arnold, T. W. 8. Cohh, 

Hon. E. B. Adams, Charles L. C;i>e. 

A. M. Averill, D. H. Cha|)ni.in, 

W. T. Aiiirell, Georcre 1). Cajjcn, 

Dr. B. J. Bristol, Charles H. Chapen, 

Samuel (i. Burnham, J. A. Cutter, 

Charles E. Bl:.ke, Frank C. Case, 

Prof. E. AI. Bowman, J. H. CavtMidcr, 

Di-. Charles E. Briggs, James O. ('hurchill, 

C. J. liryant. Dr. William Dickenson, 

AVilham H. lioyden, John F. Davies, 

Edgar II. r>i-a(ll)ury, James A. Draper, 

George II. liradford, Hon. (ieorge Dennison, 

H. P.rifismade, E. A. DeWolf, 

E. P. Bronson. Charles ]\ Damon, 

Geoi-ge I). Barnard, Thomas Dimmock, 

Dr. G. A. Bowman, Asa W. Dav, 

l*rof. II. A. P.rown, II. II. Dennison, 

C. W. Barstow, Frederick W. Drury, 

Rev. \V. W. lioyd, C. L. Dean, 

E. (\ Bennett, E. P. Davenport, 

W. H. Cornell, A. M. Eddy, 

George T. Cram, Horace Fox, 

Col. G. O. Carpenter, Edwin Fowler, 

Arha N. Crane, C. I. FiUey, 

Gen. John S. Cavender, P. P. Furber, 



39 



J. M. Fitziribbons, 
Elliott E. Furne.y, 
Warren H. Fox, 

E. E. French, 
William Fox, 

Prof. A. A. Goddard, 

Prof. P. A. Griswold, 

C. I). Greene, Jr., 

M. L. Gray, 

Kev. C. L. Goodell, 

Joseph W. Goddard, 

Dr. John (ir'.en, 

Hoyt H. Green, 

George C. Greene, 

C. 8. Greeley, 

James God(hii(l, 

Dr. G. F. (iill, 

Wm. G. Hammond, L.L.D. 

Thomas 8. Haves, 

Charles Holmes, 

N. C. Hudson, 

^^ . 1}. Homer, 

James L. Huse, 

Kobci't M. Hubbard, 

F. W. Humphrey, 
Prof. James K. Hosnier, 
E. II. Hoyt, 

E. O. Hudson, 
Hon. C. S. Hayden, 
M- W. Huff, 
Charles H. Hapgood, 
W. L. Huse, 
H. S. Ho[)kins, 
J. H. Holman, 
L. S. Holden, 



George I. Jones, 

Prof. George E. Jackson, 

F. N. Judson, 

Hon. D. T. Jevvett, 

J. M. Jordon, 

D. I. Jocelyn, 

Edward F. Jackson, 

James E. Kainie, 

D. F. Kaime, 

D. E. Kittridge, 
Charles Knight, 
8. H. Knight, 
T. D. Kimball, 
Kev. J. C. Learned, 
B. D. Lee, 
Russell F. Lamb, 

F. H. Ludington, 
Geor<re E. Leio^hton, 
Isaac L. Lee, 

Kev. Georfje E. iNIartin, 
Rev. J. G. Merrill, 
A. E. Mills, 
Alvah jNlansur, 
Charles W. Melcher, 
Georcje B. Moro;an, 
S. P. Merriam, 
CD. Moody, 
A. M. Kelson, 
Edward S. Orr, 
T. M. Post, D.D., 

G. \V. Prescott, 
Garland Pollard, 
H. M. Pollard, 

E. W. Pattison, 

F. A. Pratt, 



40 



H. W. Phelps, 
John G. Priest, 
W. H. Palsifer, 
Alfred Plant, 
James L. Pattee, 
liev. Charles Peabody, 
Georfje Partridge, 
Prof. C. 8. Pennell, 
W. B. Pomeroy, 
A. G. Peterson, 
Frank H. Pond, 
E. 8. Powse, 
Eben Pichards, 
Thomas H. Kockwood, 
Lyman 15. Ki}jley, 
Clinton Kowell, 
John F. Kandidl, 
Frank K. Kyan, 
Hon. James Kichardson, 
W. K. Kichards, 
V\ . M. Poberts, 
C. II. 8ami)son, 
E. (). 8tanard, 
Lewis E. 8now, 
William A. 8tickney, 
Prof. ]M. 8. 8now, 
Hon. (Icoruc P. 8trong, 
A. F. Shaplcigh, 
Isaac B. 8n()\v, 



Ford 8mith, 

J. H. Sears, 

Lyndon A. Smith, 

L. W. Stebbins, 

K. P. Stud ley, 

F. A. Spencer, 

Rev. W. W. Sylvester, 

Miss Henrietta Sawyer, 

Edward A. Skeele, 

L. B. Tebbetts, 

F. H. Thomas, 

Hon. Samuel Treat, 

J. F. Talbot, 

Charles Thacher, 

George Tredway, 

F. C. Woodruff, 

Dr. E, E. AVebster, 

Alfred H. White, 

Kev. M. W. Willis, 

O. L. Whitelaw, 

R. II. Whitelaw, 

Prof. C. M. Woodward, 

J. Sibley White, 

Rodney' D. Wells, 

C. M. Whitney, 

L. L. AValbridge, 

J. F. Weston, 

Edward Willis, 

William H. Yeaton. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 042 038 4 # 



